The field of the invention is reinforced, plastic fabrication, and the invention relates more particularly to the fabrication of finished parts having a foam core and a fiberglass-reinforced polyester resin surface. A process for making surfboards is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,929,549. A major difficulty with the process shown in the above-referenced patents is the failure of the foam to be in close contact with the resin at all points. Any points where the foam has pulled away from the resin, a soft spot resulted and the board soon became unuseable. Furthermore, because of the shape of the mold, it was difficult to properly coat the inner surface of the mold particularly near the side edges of the board. Still further, it was difficult to place any decorative layer near the outer surface of the board because of the difficulty of placing and trimming such a sheet in a confined hollowed area such as shown in FIG. 4 of U.S. Pat. No. 3,929,549.
Surfboards are commonly made from the inside out. That is, a foam core is shaped to the desired dimensions and then coated with a fiberglass and resin mixture. The outer surface is then smoothed to provide surface gloss. This process requires a considerable amount of hand labor, and a substantial amount of skill to form a board with an acceptable appearance and shape. It has been known for many years that an improved surface gloss could be formed by molding a surfboard in a hollow mold, but processes to accomplish this have not proved entirely successful.
The interest in surfboards has recently been increased by the popularity of motorized surf boards surfboard sailing devices, and a need for a stronger more durable surfboard exists.